Michael Mathias Prechtl

Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (died 2003)

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Born: April 26, 1926
Died: March 19, 2003
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Birth year: 1926

About Michael Mathias Prechtl

Michael Mathias Prechtl (April 26, 1926 – March 19, 2003) was a German artist, illustrator and cartoonist. Prechtl was born in Amberg. He served as a soldier on the Eastern Front during World War II and spent 1945-49 as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. He is well known for illustrating German editions of literary classics such as works by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Thomas More, Dante, Goethe, Benvenuto Cellini, and the letters of Mozart. He received more publicity for the numerous front page illustrations he made for Der Spiegel in the 1980s. Prechtl was married to the artist Frydl Zuleeg in 1956. He died in Nuremberg, aged 76.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Born: April 26, 1926

The world when Michael Mathias Prechtl was born

Michael Mathias Prechtl was born in 1926. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1926

#1 song"Bye Bye Blackbird"
Top movieThe General (Buster Keaton)
Best-selling bookThe Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentGertrude Ederle swims the English Channel
Top headlineA.A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
Technology milestoneFirst demonstration of television
Defining fadFlagpole sitting
Notable inventionPop-up toaster
World population2.01 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
U.S. population117.4M

1926 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Mathias Prechtl's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1926	2026
Gas	$0.23	$3.45/gal
Average home	$6,000	$435,000
Average income	$3,620	$67,500
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.02	$0.73
Population	117.4M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.